GW17 – The Good, the Bad & the Monkey

Punting on Origi immediately fell flat as he returned nothing at all in a Merseyside derby devoid of high scores (only Mane scored a last minute of injury time equaliser for a 1-0 win).

The premium players (save for Mane) endured a week to forget. Runaway Captain polls leader Kane returned yet another blank, while Eriksen, Hazard and Siggy too. Only Sanchez got a measly assist and Costa a goal with his yellow. A week to forget. Thankfully Pickford set up shop with a cleansheet and 2 bonus points while Alonso once again returned a cleansheet (and ALMOST scored a peach of a freekick which thumped against the crossbar).

This week’s transfer was done early to avoid loss of team value: Ibra for Costa, while Eriksen is sacrificed for Lallana for the funds. Ideally, I’d have shipped Kane for Ibra. However, Costa being suspended means I had to act quickly as the team became threadbare.

Now, there’s news that Hazard may be injured (knee) and a slight doubt for the plum home tie against Bournemouth. Conte may decide to rest him, and this would throw a spanner in many a teamsheet.

Gotta monitor on this.

Another concern is my 1 week punt on Origi. Sturridge came back and looked impressive. Coutinho is close to a return. All these spell doom for Origi’s continued assurance of starts upfront. May have to ship sooner than expected, making his punt of last week a really bad one.

The season is chugging along in a mediocre manner. Here’s hoping Boxing Day brings some festive cheer to this sorry team.